How to File Patent Applications in India

In this highly constructive, refined, and beneficial web article, provided is comprehensive information about the patent registrations in all across India. These inventions and patents could be belonging to any interested field of business, manufacturing, profession, or service. Our law firm of worldwide prominence and popularity has been offering superb and swift legal services for patent registrations in countries worldwide, both at national and international levels. The TRIPS Agreement, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Berne Convention, and the European Patent Convention (EPC) have been closely associated with ours services for patent registration and protection at international and worldwide levels.

What is a Patent?

A patent is the legitimate and exclusive right which is granted to the inventor of any new invention through proper registration of his/her/its creation, and is regarding the diverse uses, hiring and trading, and protection of the invention by the inventor, within the jurisdictions of the patent office concerned. However, the term 'patent' is also sometimes used for implying an invention or patented invention in any field. An invention could be a new revolutionary process, method, instrument, composition, product, etc., created for producing new and better things, or for making innovative improvements to an existing product, equipment, or process. The patent rights granted by the pertinent patent office, help companies and firms in utilizing their respective inventions authoritatively, for doing secured, dignified, and profitable businesses at regional, national, and international levels.

Types of Patents

Broadly, inventions can be categorized into two major classes – inventions related with products, and inventions connected with processes. Today, registration and protection are available to both these categories of inventions in India, or other countries of the world. These products and processes could pertain to any field of the sectors of business and commerce, manufacturing and industries, professions, and services.

Creation of An Invention

Creation of an original invention pertaining to any field of occupation or business is the very first step towards a patent registration. The inspiring and guiding facts behind such an invention are better efficiency, durability, usefulness, varied utility, user-friendliness, cost-effectiveness and economy, aesthetics, or an entirely new innovation or revolution in any field. Any such invention must be original, utilitarian, and unique to be patentable, and to avert allegations of infringement, and cases of opposition, by other entities.

Patent Search

The main and ultimate objective of conducting the patent search is to ensure that the newly created invention is totally unique and entirely different from all inventions registered in India in the past years, and all recently field patent applications seeking registration with any zonal patent office of India. All patent databases containing inventions falling under these both categories are searched through comprehensively by this patent search process.

Drafting Patent Specification

Patented inventions are commonly considered as being the backbone of businesses in all related economic fields. And, the patent specification is impeccable, convincing, and impregnable presentation of any newly created invention, strictly as per the rules and recommendation of the patent office concerned. Hence, patent specification drafting is indeed a meticulous and scrupulous task that essentially requires utmost care and concern, up-to-date information, work expertise, and ingenuity. Our mellowed and innovative patent lawyers of international repute are well-versed in creating unique, optimally elegant, and highly impressive and impregnable patent specification, in order to serve the patentee for a longer period of time or forever.

In general, a complete patent specification contains the following pieces of information, in the following order: Grand Title of the new Invention, Cross References, Background of the Invention, Rich and Concise Summary of the Invention, Clear Illustrations regarding Drawings, Detailed Description of the Invention, Claims, Abstract of the Invention, and then, the Sequence Listings.

Patent Offices in India

Because of being a vast country, India has as many as four big regional patent offices, which are well-established in Kolkata (Head Office) Mumbai, New Delhi, and Chennai. Each of these offices has a well-defined jurisdictional area that covers many surrounding States, besides the State it is located in. These zonal patent offices of India register and regulate patents belonging to all pertinent economic sectors, as per the rules and provisions given in the Indian Patents Act of 1970 and the Patents Rules of 1972.

Filing Application for Patent Registration

Based on the location of the Applicant Company or firm, selection of the concerned zonal patent office of India is made, which could be any one of the above-mentioned offices. To make a rigorous application for patent registration, a set for the following forms and documents is to be submitted, in person, by post, or online means.

• Application for Grant of Patent (Form-1): Information needed in this form includes Name and Address of the Inventor(s), Name and Address of the Applicant(s), prior patent applications made that are related with this current invention, etc.
• Patent Specification (Form-2): This form presents detailed information about the patent specification, provisional or complete.
• Statement and Undertaking under Section 8 (Form-3): This form offers information about the patent applications which could be filed in other countries by the inventor, for the same presented (current) invention. A declaration is also contained in by this form, that in cases of such actions in future, the inventor will inform the concerned patent office of India immediately about these in written details.
• Declaration As to Inventorship (Form-5)
• Request for Publication (Form-9): Filing of this form is optional; however filing of this is quite beneficial and securing. If this form is not filed, then the patent specification concerned with your invention is expected to be published generally after 18 month from the date of patent application filing. Filing of this form-9 makes the publication earlier than this period. One can generally get one's patent specification published within one week after filing this form-9.
• Request for Examination of Application for Patent (Form-18): Filing of this form is absolutely necessary for getting your patent application properly and timely examined. Thus, to expedite the patent registration process, filing of form-9 and form-18 at an early stage is necessary and advisable.
• Priority Claim Details (if any): These comprise of the priority application number and date, priority country, certified copy of the priority document in English, title and applicant of the priority application, etc.
• Necessary References: These offer information about the sources which have been very fertile for the creation of current invention. These sources could be trade journal articles, patent publications, expert suggestions, or other sources.
• Power of Attorney: In Form-26, if patent application for registration is being filed by any patent agent.
• All Prescribed Fees: For filing an application for patent registration.

Process of Patent Registration

After receipt of the filed application for registration, the patent authorities examine thoroughly and scrupulously the entire patent application and the patent specification, and then, provide a first examination report to the applicant, along with some suggestions or objections. The applicant has then to appease all objections and satisfy the patent authorities, in favor of patent registration. It they are satisfied, they publish the patent specification in the Indian Patent Office Journal, to know the reactions or possible objections from the owners of all previously registered inventions (patents), who are engaged especially in the same field of business or occupation. If no objection has been raised, then the invention is permitted for proper registration. And, if there are many objections raised by the opponents, then acceptance or rejection of the forwarded invention, depends upon the final verdict of the Opposition Board constituted by the Controller. Ours well-informed and extensively experienced patent attorneys help applicants during this entire process of patent registration in India or abroad.

Validity Duration of a Patent

The validity and recognition of a newly registered invention in all across India since 2005, is for a period of twenty years, from the date of patent registration, in compliance to the recommendations of the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO. This holds good for both process and product patents pertaining to various economic fields. The tenure of validity of patents can easily be extended to twenty more years by regular patent renewals. However, for patents belonging to certain types of products, such as drugs, pesticides, and some food items, the term of patent protection is lesser.

Patent Renewal

The patent renewal fees are due well before the expiry of the 20-year tenure. In India, these patent renewal fees remittable through both the modes of the one-time advance payment for the entire renewed tenure of twenty years, and the yearly annuities. This renewal fee is to be sent to the Controller of the concerned zonal office of India.